December is only a few days away, and before you get overwhelmed with the realization that you still have to buy Christmas presents for your entire family, why not chill out and watch some Netflix? You only have a few days left to catch a David Fincher mystery, a classic Bill Murray comedy, a recent Best Picture winner, and a movie that sounded like a terrible idea but somehow managed to be pretty damn great. Here are best TV shows and movies leaving Netflix in December.Read More »

(Welcome to Now Stream This, a column dedicated to the best movies streaming on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and every other streaming service out there.)

The world of streaming services can be overwhelming, and more often than not, you might find yourself unsure what to watch, and where to watch it. That’s where Now Stream This comes in! I’m here to help you navigate the murky waters of all thing streaming, and this week, I have some doozies for you. There’s not one, but twoKeanu Reeves films; John Carpenter‘s last great movie; an underrated David Fincher thriller; a slasher remake; and much more.

The start of a David Fincher commentary is kind of like the start of a David Fincher movie: you know you’re in store for something good. Sometimes after listening to hours upon hours of commentary tracks, I question how I spend my time, but listening to Fincher’s commentaries is always time well spent. He’s concise and candid, he’s as funny as his movies, and he’s a great storyteller. The co-founder of Propaganda Films is completely open about his choices and how a scene and film was put together, and never attempts to preserve some sense of mystery about his work.

Everything you’d want to know about one of Fincher’s movies can be learned in one of his commentary tracks, which are usually joined by other excellent and informative bonus features, including a highly reccomended Panic Room commentary featuring screenwriter William Goldman. Audio commentaries don’t get much better than Fincher’s, though, so if you’ve yet to listen to one of his, do yourself a favor and check one out.

More than any other mainstream filmmaker, David Fincher is the one who has had his finger on the pulse of our generational concerns. If you Google Fincher’s name and the word “zeitgeist,” it will immediately turn up countless think pieces talking about how his films — especially Fight Club and The Social Network — have captured the zeitgeist, reflecting the spirit of their time the way The Graduate did for the 1960s.

But The Game, Fincher’s 1997 thriller starring Michael Douglas, was a necessary primer for Fight Club. With this film, Fincher took the actor who played Gordon Gekko ten years earlier, and he gave that ‘80s zeitgeist figure a light makeover and put him in a post-grunge ‘90s movie.

The Game turns 20 today (it hit theaters on September 12, 1997), so let’s take a look back at what makes itso special: not only for the way it marked a turning point in Fincher’s early career, but also for the way it takes a high-concept story and manages to bake in a fair amount of subtext.

An adaptation of Neil Strauss‘ New York Times bestseller The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists has been in the works, on and off, for over a decade now. Back in 2005, Chris Weitz (About a Boy) was attached to direct The Game, which is a look at the life of a pickup artist. A couple of years later, David Levien and Brian Koppelman (Billions) took a shot at The Game, but for whatever reason, it still didn’t get made. Then James Franco became involved, and again, nothing more came of the news. The actor and producer has, however, returned to the project, which is being fast-tracked and will possibly go into production next year.

David Fincher began his directorial career making music videos for some of the biggest talents in pop music. Beginning with Alien³ in 1992, his work in features has combined a drive for technical achievement off-screen with a consistently recognizable interest in detail-oriented obsession on-screen. He is a consummate craftsman, but one with an uncanny ability to lay his finger right on the cultural pulse. Together, those talents result in films which have gone beyond reflecting cultural attitudes, to defining them.

With the release of his latest film, Gone Girl, we’ve taken the opportunity to revisit the director’s narrative works on film. (And, briefly, in television.) Below is a list of the films of David Fincher ranked by achievement. It’s a highly subjective effort, we realize. Where does Gone Girl fit in alongside Fight Club, Se7en, The Social Network, and Zodiac? What stands out as the best film in his career to date, and what virtues can we find even in his least successful efforts? As you’d expect with Fincher, the answer to that last question is a lot more detailed than it would be for many other filmmakers. Compare our list with your own after reading further.

Daniel Silva has edited a 17-minute tribute to filmmaker David Fincher, artfully splicing together the director’s nine feature films including Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Networkand The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This video tribute does not include Fincher’s Alien 3 (because, you know why), his 1985 documentary The Beat of the Live Drum (probably because it isnt a narrative feature film) or his upcoming film Gone Girl. The edit is not just a music video like most of the tribute videos you see these days, including lengthy bits of scenes. That said, the short does include “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails and “Oraculum” by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross. Watch Daniel Silva’s The Films of David Fincher now embedded after the jump.

James Franco is in talks to star in MGM’s big screen adaptation of the bestselling book The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss. Franco would not be playing the Strauss character however, but instead the chatacter of Mystery, a master pick-up artist who teaches Neil the tricks of the trade and introduces him into the world of “the game.” Some of you might recall that the real life Mystery starred in a VH1 reality series spawned by the success of the book called “The Pick-Up Artist”.

David Levien and Brian Koppleman made a name for themselves with the script for Rounders, then wrote (among other things) the scripts for Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Thirteen and The Girlfriend Experience, and wrote and directed the Michael Douglas film Solitary Man. Now they are set to write and direct an adaptation of the Neil Strauss pick-up bible The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists. Read More »

In 2005, Columbia Pictures acquired the film rights to Neil Strauss‘ bestselling pickup book The Game: Penetrating The Secret Society of Pickup Artists, and About A Boy director/screenwriter Chris Weitz was at one point attached to direct. The option expired, and rights returned to Strauss. Now Variety is reporting that Academy Award-winning USC grad Ari Sandel (West Bank Story) is in talks to direct the big screen adaptation for Lionsgate with Spyglass financing and Depth of Field producing. Due Date scribe Adam Sztykiel is rewriting Dan Weiss‘ script.

For those of you who are chuckling about the idea of a handbook for pickup artists being adapted into a big screen movie, that isn’t exactly the case.